The Wigamalefis part 14:
The Trip
A No More Fakes Story
(Sunday, January 12)
The flight was perfect. Perfect in the flying aspect. The actual
experience was horrible. Judy and Chris were treated fairly, until it was
discovered they were with Lance and I. Lance had a hard time sitting in
his seat since it wasn't made for his tail and wings. He had to sit in
the isle so his head wouldn't be scrunch under the carry-on bins.
I of course could sympathize with the tail bit. And with Lance in
the isle seat, I had a hard time getting my tail in a comfortable
position. At times like this I wish I never went to the part and got
turned into this blue furry thing.
The stewardesses weren't very friendly either. They would always
come by and ask us to move our tails or whatever because we were
disturbing the other passengers. Plus, they served us our meal last. I
guess they thought we would eat all they had before the other passengers
could get theirs. I thought Lance was thinking about roasting them with
his flame for a second.
Plus they treated me like I was someone's pet. Not being able to
speak English contributed a lot to that. Well, I'm sure what I looked
like helped too, but they actually talked to Lance. They didn't say much,
but it was a lot more than what they said to me. No, "Do you want fish or
chicken?" to me. She just held out both for me to choose from. I don't
think they even said "Bu-bye" when I exited.
Thankfully, the hotel was nicer toward us. I guess they figured
the quicker they dealt with us, the quicker we wouldn't be hanging about
in the lobby. We did catch all the eyes when we were there. As the
elevator doors closed, I though I could hear a huge sigh of relief coming
from the lobby.
------------------
Monday was the first day of the conference. Judy, Chris, and I
sat at the booth, while Lance acted as the mascot for the new game. He
even signed some autographs. He was such a ham.
Nobody acted strangely towards us. I was so relieved. After the
experience the day before, I didn't think I could handle any more.
Anyway, I probably looked like some type of promotional gimmick.
Naturally, Judy and Chris did all the talking. I handed out fliers and
info sheets. It was a pretty boring job.
Then came time for my break! I was able to wander the floor to
see the other companies' booths. It was remarkable! I made a mental note
to come to these conferences more often.
"Hey, you!" someone shouted. I turned and saw a man coming toward
me from the back of the booth. "What are you doing at our booth? Go
promote your stuff at your own booth."
I tried sign language, but he didn't understand. Of course I
didn't have my trusty note pad. He started to call security so I left.
Humans can be so touchy about the slightest things.
I didn't want to cause any other scenes, so I stayed close to the
center of the isles. I got a good enough look at the booth through the
crowds of people. I eventually returned to our booth.
When I arrived, some man who had an air of importance was standing
behind the booth talking to Chris and Judy.
"Here he comes now," I heard Judy say as I walked behind the
booth.
The man walked up to me and shook my hand. "Nice to meet you Will
Harryman. I am Clinton Kernz."
I nodded in response. Mr. Kernz was a owner of one of the best
computer gaming companies. I was honored just to be talking with him.
"Oh, I'm sorry. I forgot. Why don't we go in that room over
there," he said pointing to a door close to our booth. It was a small
conference room which was empty at the moment. I nodded and we pushed our
way through the crowd and entered the room. Mr. Kernz closed the door
behind us.
He motioned for me to sit down in one of the chairs. He sat in
the chair next to the one I chose. "Mr. Harryman, I love the game you
supervised. The technology is stunning, and the imagination is
mesmerizing."
I whipped out my trusty note pad and scribbled down, "Thank you.
I had fun doing it."
Mr. Kernz read the note and nodded before he continued. "What I
wanted to talk to you about is a new job."
My eyes grew wide.
Mr. Kernz looked surprised. "That is an amazing costume, but no
one's going to see you in here. Why don't you take it off?"
I reluctantly wrote on my pad, "It's not a costume."
He read what I wrote and seemed to ponder it for a short while.
"Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't know," he said. Confusion filled his eyes. I
knew a job offer like that would be too good to last.
The next few minutes were uncomfortable until Mr. Kernz snapped
out of his daze. "Anyway, about the job. I still want you to have it.
Of course, you have to go through the standard processing."
He paused, and I nodded my head.
He then continued, "So, I would like you to send me your resume,
and we can get the ball rolling. What do you say?"
I quickly jotted down my response, "I would love to work at your
company. I have a copy of my resume with me. It's at the booth."
"That's terrific," he said after reading my pad. "We'll pick that
up in a few minutes. Right now, let's discuss the terms."
The job sounded like my dream job. I would be paid an excellent
amount of money, and it was something I had been wanting to do. If the
rest of the hiring committee approved, then I would be hired in a flash.
After we discussed the job, we walked back to our booth, and I handed him
one of my resumes.
"Thank you, Will. I'm sure you will be hearing from us," Mr.
Kernz said. We shook hands, and he left.
Lance watched him leave and came over to me leaving the people
that were still trying to get autographs an pictures behind. "What was
that about?" he asked.
I wrote down a brief explanation.
"That's wonderful," Lance said patting me on the back with his
clawed hands. "Looks like you're moving up in the world."
I laugh-grunted.
The rest of the convention went down hill from that point. It was
great and all, but knowing that I would be working at one of the best
gaming companies just took the cake. I didn't even mind that the flight
back was just as bad as the way there.
-----------------
Sandy was waiting for me at the airport. I hoped she wouldn't
forget. Ever since she took that side job at the zoo, she had been
extremely busy. I'm sure I was easy to spot in the crowd. If I wasn't,
it was because of my height. I was about the average height of humans.
However, Lance's towering height of ten feet would be noticeable anywhere.
Well, for whatever reason, Sandy located me easily. She ran up to me and
gave me a big hug.
"Oh, I missed you so much," she said practically jumping in my
arms. "I had the worst feeling about the flight."
"I'm safe and sound now," I signed once she stopped hugging me.
She pulled me toward the luggage. "Come on. You have to tell me
all about it."
-------------------
Sandy was eager to hear about the trip on the way home. She said
I should complain about the service on the plane, but I disagreed. I
doubt they will treat non humans any differently no matter how frequent
they are on the plane.
When the job offer, came up, Sandy was thrilled. "I knew you
would move up," she said.
I nodded modestly. However, our excitement was cut short due to
the fact that there were police cars in front of my house.
"What's this about?" Sandy asked taking the question right out of
my head.
As I pulled up into my driveway, several police officers ran to
the car. "Please get out of the car," one yelled at us.
Both Sandy and I complied. As soon as we were out, they flipped
us around to face the car with our hands forced to the side.
"Mr. Harryman?" the one that looked like a chief asked.
I nodded.
"Mr. Harryman, do you know this creature?" the chief asked holding
a photo in front of my face. It was a picture of the thing that Kerry
turned into.
I nodded.
"We would like for you to come down to the station with us," the
chief said. Sandy and I were hauled into one of the police cars. It
seemed that we weren't in as much trouble as the police let on. We
weren't even handcuffed.
To Be Continued....